Brent S
Top Poster
Rabbits are really easy and have free fertilizer to boot!
Farms and Farming.
- Thread starter bigpaul
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Brent S
Top Poster
I've planted asparagus three times now, with no results yet. Really sucks too as I love it covered with mozzarella and a sprinkle of garlic. I'll try again next spring, but will do some good ground prep this time. I'm leaning towards a pig this winter. A friend said he's done them for years, getting them in the fall and having ham by Easter. I have my main garden on a slope and think a pig pen on the top of the hill may be a good idea.
Danil54grl
Top Poster
My BIL ate guinea before and he actually liked the taste. . . forgot what country they went to visit at the time, just know it wasn't in the US. They are considered pets around here and I am sure PETA would step in. Personally they just remind me of rats too much, put then again I have never tried it so I shouldn't knock it.
Gazrok
A True Doomsday Prepper
I think this is all about getting a good group of starting plants. A friend of mine did this somewhat successfully, even here in FL (though her asparagus are pretty thin, they are just as flavorful). I'm going to see if she'll give me a few starters, when we're ready for them.
Gazrok
A True Doomsday Prepper
The contestants on the first season of Survivor all raved about the taste of cooked rat, believe it or not. One of my favorite shows, so I've read a lot of the "behind the scenes" books with cast interviews, etc. One thing I really took away, Jeff HATES those who quit, and will take every opportunity to burn them publicly during the show.
Danil54grl
Top Poster
What kind of asparagus have you been planting and how are you doing it? I have had really good luck with Jersey Night roots. I planted one group 5 years ago and then another 3 years ago. I dug a trench about a foot and a half deep then and added compost on the bottom, about 5 inches thick or so. Put in your roots and spread them out cause they don't like to be overcrowded, about another foot and a half apart. Cover the crowns with a couple inches of compost and just keep adding 'black gold' (compost) gradually as they grow until you are ground level. The first year, I just let them grow and get established and then by the second is when I start to harvest. They are also hungry little buggers so need to add in fertilizer regularly. I know you get snow during winter months so think you should try to protect your roots. After your ferns dry out, cut them down to ground level and put on a thick layer of manure and cover with straw.
Brent S
Top Poster
I didn't do any kind of ground prep at all. I took the bulbs/roots and just loosened the clay and hoped for the best. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Ive read since about planting it and it was pretty much as you just described. I also learned that once it's established it is pretty tough and will produce for years. I don't remember seeing a variety name of any kind on the packaging. I wonder if i should try it in the greenhouse or just in the garden? Mabey I'll try some of both and see what works best.
If I can get a vacation in Feb Im going to get my shovel and wheel barrel and clean out from under the roost poles in my chicken house and spread it on the garden so it will be broke down by planting time this year . last year I burned up a few tomatoe plants with it . Im going to have another try with a asparagus patch eairlier this year . Wonder how it would do simi shaded .
Asparagus roots are supposed to grow feet into the ground and is loaded with minerals brought up by the roots...makes some people's urine smell awfully strong!
This is a follow up to the Back To Eden video...I have implemented a lot of the covering in my own yard...and I have installed two "hugelkultur" beds in my front yard (permaculture)...I only planted 6 asparagus shoots two years ago in one of the hugelkultur beds with blueberries...the asparagus has tripled in output! Taste is amazing and the blueberries are just wonderful!
I build quite a bit of top soil with this rabbit tractor that floats around the yard!
This is the "hugelkultur" bed with the blueberries on each end and three asparagus on each side just after planting before mulching with hay!
This is a follow up to the Back To Eden video...I have implemented a lot of the covering in my own yard...and I have installed two "hugelkultur" beds in my front yard (permaculture)...I only planted 6 asparagus shoots two years ago in one of the hugelkultur beds with blueberries...the asparagus has tripled in output! Taste is amazing and the blueberries are just wonderful!
I build quite a bit of top soil with this rabbit tractor that floats around the yard!
This is the "hugelkultur" bed with the blueberries on each end and three asparagus on each side just after planting before mulching with hay!
Brent S
Top Poster
composting is the safest way. It's potent stuff. I mix some in a 5 gal bucket with water and pour around my plants, being careful not to get too close, and it works fine.
Brent S
Top Poster
I will try asparagus again this year, but havent had any luck yet.
Brent S
Top Poster
I brought about 10 cart loads of leaves down from the back of the property and piled them in the garden. I'll try to get another load of the same size tomorrow. I'm going to put about 5inches over the whole garden area and till it in. Everyone here in Ga. Burns their leaves, but they make great compost. I ran the mower in strips, and chewed them up pretty well, blowing them into lines before raking and picking them up. This Ga. clay is thick heavy stuff, so I'm trying to get it mixed with a lot of biomass. I really hate raking, but am hoping this will pay off over the next couple years.
Brent S
Top Poster
I have one oak tree behind the garden that sheds a few leaves in into it, but I'm blanketing the leaves of a few dozen trees into it now.. I wish I had done it earlier, to give it time to compost more, but think the tiller will grind it up even more. I plan to do this in the garden and greenhouse. Between the leaves, rabbit manure, and chicken manure I hope the buying of fertilizer is a thing of the past.
Maverick
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Get rabbit/chicken crap, mix in sawdust from pine or oak (very very small chips not powder) add oak leafs if you have any and a little water let set for a week in the sealed 30/50gal bag, keep mixing this mix in the soil up to a week before planting season keeping the ground moist (not saturated), I also make a small mixture in a plastic lined wheel borrow (1/8 filled) rest filled with water, let the water set over night, I use the water for watering the asparagus, asparagus is a pig, don't have other plants nearby. Think of the wood chips as a time release capsule 
I freeze and also pickle them though I don't plant a lot of them. Fresh one's I oven roast, garlic and butter when done add parmesan cheese.
I mix cow/chicken manure after growing season when I till the garden (twice before the freeze sets in) then cover the garden in straw, the thing with asparagus the ground needs to stay rich all year long.
Potatoes and onions could practically be grown year around hay being an excellent insulator. If you use hay in conjunction to a green house you will be surprised what can be grown in the winter months. Take a bale of hay dig out the center, put in a planter with only the top of the planter shown filled with rich soil, put black plastic over the bale of hay though cut the top around the planter then cover with heavy mill clear plastic this allows sun light on the soil in the planter
EDITED: The black plastic absorbs the heat, the hay holds and radiates the heat keeping the soil warm enough for growing.
I freeze and also pickle them though I don't plant a lot of them. Fresh one's I oven roast, garlic and butter when done add parmesan cheese.I mix cow/chicken manure after growing season when I till the garden (twice before the freeze sets in) then cover the garden in straw, the thing with asparagus the ground needs to stay rich all year long.
Potatoes and onions could practically be grown year around hay being an excellent insulator. If you use hay in conjunction to a green house you will be surprised what can be grown in the winter months. Take a bale of hay dig out the center, put in a planter with only the top of the planter shown filled with rich soil, put black plastic over the bale of hay though cut the top around the planter then cover with heavy mill clear plastic this allows sun light on the soil in the planter
EDITED: The black plastic absorbs the heat, the hay holds and radiates the heat keeping the soil warm enough for growing.
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Brent S
Top Poster
try a little shredded mozzerella on the asparagus!Get rabbit/chicken crap, mix in sawdust from pine or oak (very very small chips not powder) add oak leafs if you have any and a little water let set for a week in the sealed 30/50gal bag, keep mixing this mix in the soil up to a week before planting season keeping the ground moist (not saturated), I also make a small mixture in a plastic lined wheel borrow (1/8 filled) rest filled with water, let the water set over night, I use the water for watering the asparagus, asparagus is a pig, don't have other plants nearby. Think of the wood chips as a time release capsule
I mix cow/chicken manure after growing season when I till the garden (twice before the freeze sets in) then cover the garden in straw, the thing with asparagus the ground needs to stay rich all year long.
Potatoes and onions could practically be grown year around hay being an excellent insulator. If you use hay in conjunction to a green house you will be surprised what can be grown in the winter months. Take a bale of hay dig out the center, put in a planter with only the top of the planter shown filled with rich soil, put black plastic over the bale of hay though cut the top around the planter then cover with heavy mill clear plastic this allows sun light on the soil in the planter
EDITED: The black plastic absorbs the heat, the hay holds and radiates the heat keeping the soil warm enough for growing.
I am learning that you cant put in too much biomass into the soil. It just keeps getting better each year.
